Japan shifting middle-aged workers to smaller cities for local revitalization

In what looks to be an innovative push to revitalize local economies and businesses, Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry is sending middle-aged employees from the country’s top three cities that have specialized skills to smaller, less-populated ones. The ministry sees these employees, aged 40 and 60 years old, as people who just might be able to jumpstart businesses and economies of cities that are having a major lack of skilled manpower.

This plan, for the moment ending in fiscal year 2014, looks to send the skilled workers from firms in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to smaller cities with populations in and around 40,000 to manage tourist associations and other vital posts that might serve as catalysts for these cities’ economic improvement. The government is investing in the program, funding around ¥5 million (approx. $50,700) a year per head for salaries, transportation, and other work expenses. If the salaries fall well short of what the employees were currently earning, the prospective employers are charged to make up the rest of the funding. Middle-aged employees were hired in huge numbers in the economic boom of the ‘80s. Now with the private sector hoping to modernize and move forward their workforces, they now have an innovative way to invest and use their middle-aged employees, whose experience will be valuable for business in the smaller city levels. The ministry said that it will start the program with private-sector workers armed with specialized skills and contacts, for a maximum of three years.

Potential businesses and groups who will profit from this initiative include tourist associations, travel agencies, securities firms, and even non-profit organizations that do social work. The move looks to be a positive and quite an innovative idea on the part of Japan’s Internal Affairs Ministry. It is a great solution for freeing up some places in the private sector – to cater to those who are still involved in the country’s infamous job hunt – while actually helping the smaller cities get employees who have the experience and the skills to elevate the quality of business, and hopefully improve the economic competency of the city.

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yamashita_k

Against this problem, though Japanese government has continually taken measures since 1960s, there is no instance of success. It may be easily understood to part of Japanese people, that the Japanese provinces, though not all of them, is too feudal and too conservative. They form a caste system, and tend to persecute those who come from outside. Therefore, everyone except guest worker doesn’t like to live in there.

Truth

I am really grateful for someone making intelligent observations from which I can learn and attempting intelligent discussion on this topics even if we don’t agree on everything.

One of the good things about Japan is that, far more other developing nations, the government worked hard to distribute industries around the country to ensure a far greater equality of wealth. For the large part, speaking of cities at least, I think this was successful and consequently Japan has a far greater equality of living standards across the nation.

Not the kind of thing that makes for exciting headlines but which is good for the standard of living for individuals.

I have to say, when I read this, it did not fill me with excitement either. It smells of “make work” jobs for people with not enough work to do. Unfortunately Japan, in my opinion, tends towards over-employment (too many people doing a job) but this is the way it does things rather than having a big welfare state like other development nations.

I would also worry that these individuals by the mere fact they are being moved around, and they won’t like being moved out of Tokyo, are less than the best or the kind of dynamic people we need to re-vitalize other areas.

In short, the move is a kind of demotion for individuals who cannot be so early fired.

In fact, not so long ago, being moved to the provinces was a kind of punishment!

40,000 … is that a mistake? That is not a “city” that is a small town. Not much more than a collection of villages.

I wonder what is going on?

In theory it could be a good idea. I wonder what their wives think … or are their wives staying back in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya? I think the response of most Tokyo women, to moving to such a small town, would surprise most people but it would make a good movie.

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